


The Wood

by SkyGem



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, the wood - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 04:52:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6890953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyGem/pseuds/SkyGem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It isn't long before they stop calling her Agnieszka of Dvernik.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wood

It isn’t long, maybe a year or two after that final great battle, before they stop calling her Agnieszka of Dvernik, and start calling her Agnieszka of The Wood.

And not much longer after that, maybe a decade or so, it’s shortened to just The Wood, fashioned after the names of the other wizards and witches of the royal family.

And where once those two short syllables had heralded fear and desperation, whispered in hushed voices and with wary looks thrown over one’s shoulder, they now bring with them a rush of warmth and sweetness.

Agnieszka is an anomaly in the truest sense - she lives in near isolation, in her little cottage deep in the heart of the woods that give her her name, with the walkers as her only neighbours. She spends most of her days wandering through the trees, searching out the corrupted heart-trees to free them of their suffering. 

But every once in a while she pops up in a village in her valley, a different one each time, forcing her way into each little community and steadily carving out a little niche for herself, until her arrival is met with bright smiles and warm hugs, like a daughter returning to her loving family.

And anywhere she steps foot, her Dragon is sure to follow, expression drawn into what many would call sullen disapproval, and which she calls grudging affection.

He’s still aloof, the lines of his face as severe as always, but his people have learned to see past that, have learned to see the way his eyes light up when he looks at his Nieshka, and how his rough rough edges are smoothed out by her laughter, until he’s no longer quite so prickly. And they love him all the more for how much he loves Agnieszka, more than they ever had when he was constantly saving them from the corruption of The Wood.

His tower is rebuilt soon after that dreadful night, and the sight of it on the horizon, always just visible in the corner of one’s eye, is comforting - a steady and unchangeable presence, a constant in their tumultuous lives as their country rebuilds, moving on from a centuries old war that has finally come to a close.

He still lives there, technically, though he never takes girls anymore, and everyone knows he sleeps more often in Agnieszka’s bed than his own, helping her with her work and getting up to all sorts of trouble.

_(There’s a betting pool going on in Dvernik, whether they’ll manage to marry themselves before Nieshka finds herself with child._

_When Nieshka’s parents open their door one day to find the lord of their land standing there, face beet-red and back ram-rod straight as he asks for their daughter’s hand in marriage, and Nieshka standing to the side looking inordinately pleased with herself, they find the answer is ‘no.’_

_Her brothers collect money from half the town that day, passing a portion of it to their little sister when they think no one will notice._

_The Dragon notices, and rolls his eyes, an exasperated growl rolling off his tongue._

_“You impossible creature,” he mutters as she laughs and kisses away his glare.)_


End file.
